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World Enduro - Merriman
leads Enduro I Class March 14th, 2004 |
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World Enduro - Merriman
leads Enduro I Class March 14th, 2004 |
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Australian Stefan Merriman’s bid
for a fourth world enduro title got off to a front-running start
when his 2004 campaign began at a rain-lashed Puerto Lumbreras
in Spain on March 13-14. The Yamaha WR250-mounted Merriman was in a belligerent mood from the outset of Spanish hostilities, and was en route to a clean sweep – outright victory on both days - of the all-new Enduro 1 class before stalling his bike on a slippery ascent on day two, losing 30 seconds in the process. Despite a valiant fight back in the subsequent special tests, Merriman fell just 7.52sec short of overhauling Simone Albergoni (Honda CRF250) after organisers cancelled the final lap. A day earlier, Merriman, the 2003 250cc two-stroke (2T) world champion, was all skill and daring in dismantling the Enduro 1 (125cc two-stroke versus 250cc four-stroke) opposition, defeating four-time world champion Petteri Silvan (KTM 125EXC) by over a minute, with Polish rider Bartos Oblucki (WR250) just shading Albergoni for third. Meanwhile, on day two, Silvan followed Merriman into third, 7.80sec in arrears of the Australian. “Everything has been really good this weekend. It was a little difficult being the first rider on the course, and on the special tests too, as they favoured the riders at the back of the class as they had clear lines to follow,” said Merriman. “Day two was very difficult because the tests were sometimes incredibly slippery and at other times they were really grippy – it was hard to predict how much grip there would be. “I had a few crashes, I just pushed a little bit too much, but my biggest mistake was getting stuck on one of the long up hills on the cross-country test.” With his first and second places, Merriman leads the title on 47pts, four in advance of Albergoni (44). The duo is then followed by Silvan (42pts), Oblucki (36) and Husqvarna-mounted Italian Roberto Bazzuri (32). Meanwhile, Swede Peter Bergvall, the winner of last year’s 250 4T title and the rider expected to be Merriman’s major challenger in 2004, laboured to seventh on 24pts, while world championship rookie, 19-year-old Aussie Jake Stapleton (TM125E), sits on 19th (4pts) heading into round two in Portugal this weekend. In the other two world enduro classes, Finnish icon Juha Salminen (KTM 450EXC) whitewashed Enduro 2 (250 2T versus 450 4T), while Spanish hotshot Ivan Cervantes (KTM 525EXC) performed the same demolition job in Enduro 3 (500 2T versus 650 4T). In the battle for the prestigious scratch title, Cervantes’ offensive to improve on last year’s fourth position got off to a spectacular start when he dominated both days, winning by nearly a minute on cumulative time. Salminen and Merriman completed the minor placings on day one, with Samuli Aro (525EXC) Cervantes’ closest challenger the next day – but still some 19 seconds in arrears. Cervantes sits on a perfect 50pts, ahead of Salminen (42), Aro (38), David Knight (525EXC, 32) and Merriman (31).
Overall Race Result |
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MCNEWS.COM.AU |
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